Biagetti ousts Carroll for selectmen seat

In two closely contested races that drew nearly 40 percent of registered voters to the polls on Tuesday, Sandra Slattery Biagetti ousted incumbent James Carroll for the open seat on the Board of Selectmen, while Daniel Iacovelli defeated Michael Costanza in the race for Park Commission.

In two closely contested races that drew nearly 40 percent of registered voters to the polls on Tuesday, Sandra Slattery Biagetti ousted incumbent James Carroll for the open seat on the Board of Selectmen, while Daniel Iacovelli defeated Michael Costanza in the race for Park Commission.

Biagetti topped Carroll by just 14 votes – 484 to 470 – an outcome that could have been swayed either way had it not been for 32 blanks.

"People voted, and you won, and you’re going to do a great job," Carroll told Biagetti while they exchanged a hug after Town Clerk Janet Orff Jacaruso announced the results.

"All good things come to an end, either by election or death," Carroll added. "At least it was the right ending."

Biagetti was hesitant to accept the victory before election workers finished tallying by hand seven ballots, but Carroll accepted defeat and offered her some sound words of wisdom he took from his three-year term.

"Just do what’s in the best interest of the town," he told her. "You don’t have to apologize or explain your decisions if you do what’s right for the town."

Biagetti, who was uncontested in her re-election for the School Committee, will have to resign from her appointed position to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

An insurance agent who has lived in town for 14 years, Biagetti has said if elected she would work to re-establish a personnel committee – but she has other plans to see to first.

"What I’m going to do is be quiet and listen to Janet (Jacaruso) and Bob (Burns) and try to take from their experience and learn from them, but it shouldn’t take too long," she said.

The race for the Park Commission came down to just 10 votes, with Iacovelli taking 459 votes and Costanza following with 449 – which also could have ended differently if not for 74 blanks.

Jacaruso was pleased with the voter turnout of 39 percent – 986 of 3,877 registered voters – after just 4.3 percent of registered voters turned out for the 2012 town election, which had no contested races.

"The fact that we had two contested races made a huge difference," she said.

The numbers looked promising early on, as more than 400 voters had come out by 1 p.m.

After casting his local and state primary ballots, resident Reb Butler said he always votes, regardless of the election, and he was happy to see several town races.

"There’s still a lot of uncontested seats, though," Butler said. "It’s nice to have some (contested races)."

Resident and election worker Dottie Bentley showed up at Draper Gymnasium a little early, as she wanted to make sure she understood how to handle the two separate ballots. Plus, Bentley said she needed to first vote herself.

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"I would never think of not voting," Bentley said.

Jessica Trufant can be reached at 508-634-7556 or JTrufant@wickedlocal.com.